APA Dictionary of Psychology

any of many regions of the cerebral cortex in which the neurons are primarily sensitive to visual stimulation. Together, all the visual areas comprise the visual cortex. Most visual areas can be distinguished from one another on the basis of their anatomical connections (i.e., their cytoarchitecture) and their specific visual sensitivities. Individual areas are designated by “V” and a number that indicates roughly how distant the area is from striate cortex. See V1; V2; V3; V4; V5.